Self Portrait: Laid Bare

When I showed my Self Portrait to our Art Group - one of these days I will say, "When I showed my Self Portrait to Sew Eclectic", but I haven't made the mental transition yet - they had some questions. "How did you do this? What was your process?"

hmm. I thought it was basic, but on second thought, maybe I should tell you the steps.

First, I drew the magnifying glass. Then I cut a gingerbread gal that fit inside its circle. I used the drawings as my pattern.

I chose a dark background, placed the pattern for the magnifying glass on it, and cut it to a size that would hold the entire verse. Then I pulled out a paint pen, and started writing on the fabric.

I used a DecoFabric pen, that I bought from Michaels.

Once I was sure the spelling was correct on the verse, I laid the pattern back on the background and decided where to put the reference (Psalm 139:23,24) I wrote it down, and walked over to my stash, to select fabrics for the magnifying glass and body.

While the paint was drying, I prepared the applique pieces.

I put the pattern for the magnifying glass down, then centered the body and hand-appliqued only the body in place. I then machine-quilted the entire quilt.

Once it was quilted, I appliqued the outside of the magnifying glass in place.

Then I slipped a circle of tule netting under the rim, and carefully turned under the inner edge of the magnifying glass.
I then machine-quilted around the magnifying glass as well as inside the circle on the tule. And there you go, I was done. It was time to attach binding, turn it to the back, and stitch it down. yay!!

On another note, a friend and I swung by an Estate Sale today. She found an old stained paper ice cream bag with a $5 price tag on it. I hadn't seen it at all. Inside were treasures. She gave me half. Here is a picture of my portion of the loot. wow. Thank you, Wendy!!!

Tomorrow it's off to PIQF...stay tuned!